Grammy, CMA winner Randy Scruggs dies at 64

Wednesday, April 18, 2018 – Grammy and CMA award winner Randy Scruggs died Tuesday after a short illness at 64.

Scruggs was the middle son of Earl Scruggs and Louise Scruggs, who was her husband's business manager.

Randy Scruggs had his first recording at the age of 13.

In 1970 he released "All the Way Home" with older brother Gary. Along with their father, they formed the progressive country-rock band the Earl Scruggs Revue. Scruggs recorded his debut solo LP, "Crown of Jewels," in 1998. Emmylou Harris, Iris DeMent, John Prine, Joan Osborne, Trisha Yearwood, Amy Grant, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Delbert McClinton and Earl Scruggs all contributed to the effort.

Scruggs was named CMA Musician of the Year in 1999, 2003 and 2006. As a producer he oversaw recordings by Waylon Jennings, Emmylou Harris, Levon Helm, Toby Keith and Alison Krauss.

The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band's "Will the Circle Be Unbroken II" was recorded at the Scruggs Sound facility in Nashville in 1989, earning him a CMA award, for Album of the Year.

As a songwriter, among the songs Scruggs wrote were "We Danced Anyway" for Deana Carter, "Love Don't Care (Whose Heart It Breaks)," Chance of Lovin' You," "Don't Make It Easy for Me" and "Angel in Disguise" (Earl Thomas Conley) and "Love Has No Right" (Billy Royal).

CD reviews for Randy Scruggs

It is difficult to tell whether the title of Randy Scruggs' first solo disc bears more witness to the classy collection of artists helping him or the way each song rises up to become its own valuable entity. Either way, Scruggs has fashioned a disc of quality and staying power that flies in the face of what is currently popular on mainstream country radio.
Son of banjo-picking legend Earl Scruggs, he obviously inherited more than merely an ability to play most anything with strings. »»»

Editorial: Walking the talk –
When names like Hank Williams, Johnny Cash, Waylon and the Hag are invoked, you're talking hard core country. These are the touchstones of country , the guys who made country music what it was and still is (or maybe can be). When these folks would sing about being down-and-out and the rough-and-tumble, they knew of what they were singing about. Fast forward a few years to the country singers of today. »»»

Concert Review: Old, new, it's all good for Platt & The Honeycutters –
Amanda Anne Platt & The Honeycutters were not mounting the stage with anything particularly new to push. The quartet's self-titled fifth album came out just over 1 ½-years ago. Lest one think that Platt and band were growing tired of life on the road, far from it.
In a well-delivered 85-minute set, Platt and The Honeycutters turned that ancient... »»»

Concert Review: Lake Street Dive ends the year in style –
Lake Street Dive may have been looking back when it offered that traditional New Year's song "Auld Lang Syne" as the new year rolled in. No matter which way the band looks - forwards or backwards - life is good.
For the second time in six weeks, Lake Street Dive was back home (the Brooklyn-based group formed at the local New England... »»»

Suffice it to say that the past has always loomed large throughout Chip Taylor's career. That's all the more obvious if only for the fact that Taylor wrote some of the biggest pop hits of the '60s, "Wild Thing"... »»»

Dan Tyminski (known simply as "Tyminski" on his 2017 release "Southern Gothic") has traditional music roots and unassailable bluegrass street cred especially given his membership in Alison Krauss' Union Station. He is also a powerful songwriter and has been writing songs for himself and others for years now.... »»»

Bela Fleck and Abigail Washburn have powerhouse individual talents; each has followed an estimable career path to where they find themselves today: making complex, but spare, records, writing music together and touring with their son Juno. Their new release, "Echoes In The Valley" features mostly songs written by Fleck and Washburn, banjos, Washburn's strong vocals and very little else.... »»»

Is Ronnie Milsap proud of his age? For a clue, look no further than the name of his "76 for 76" Tour. There are some other numbers the North Carolina native is probably fond of, such as 40 number 1 records or 6 Grammys. »»»

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